Serena was still asleep after the fourth try, so Eric just
shouted into the Mic, producing a high-pitched sound loud enough
to get the attention of everyone in the house, including her two
Guardians. She rools out of bed and grabs the scouter, dragging
it off the nightstand and to eye level near the floor. Pressing
the button twice, she places it back on the nightstand, and
pillows her head in her hands.

"Serena?!? What is that confounded contraption?"

Much to both Luna's and Artemis's dismay, the scouter (Which
Luna thought she recognized from the Moon Kingdom) emmitted an
extremely high-pitched ringing-buzzing sound that scared all
three of them awake. Serena jumps up fast, puts it on, hits the
button thrice, and shouts "I'm up! I'm up!" into it.

"What is that thing, Serena?" Artemis asks, arching
his back to strech out. "And where did you get it?"

Serena puts it back on, hits the button, and looks in the
direction of her bedroom door. "It's a trinket I got from
Amy. It's a scouter. It allows you to see how powerful things are
and where they are."

"What does it say about us?" Luna asks, giving
Serena one of those 'I don't think you are telling us the whole
truth' looks.

Serena aims it down at the cats, who were standing on the end
of the bed. "5 points each, 11 combined."

"On how big a scale?" Luna queries.

"Well, It sometimes surges and blows up at about 23,000
but it is rated up to 300,000. After that, you usually don't
survive long enough to get a reading." She wraps it up in a
cloth, places it in her bag, and procceeds out the door.

"Have a good day at school, Serena." They both say
as she steps out.

"Will try. Bye Ma!" She shouts on her way out. She
runs it to school, hoping to be there before Eric got to, but she
instinctively slows down and stops at the corner he has been
attacked several times before, and true to her luck, they are
there, just waiting for her or anyone else moving alone. She puts
her scouter on, and transmits a call for Eric to haul to her
location so she can get to school. The response messages is that
they are at max speed, but still 3 minutes away.

Serena prepares for the worst, hoping that she wouldn't be
noticed by them, but that hope is dashed. One of the punks rounds
the corner, and Serena reacts faster than him, kicking him in the
gut and chopping downward at his neck as he doubles over. He
falls to the ground without uttering a sound.

Serena activates the scouter, and aims it in the direction of
the corner, and waits. After a few minutes, someone crosses the
field of scanning, headed in her direction. She jumps back, the
person turns the corner, sees Serena and her fallen comrade, and
runs back screaming. Serena begins backing away from the corner,
hoping that they aren't to pursue, but they do, and they turn
after her at only 20' from the dreaded corner. She trips. They
advance, and stop dead a mere 10' from her, apparently spooked by
something or someone. One of them raises his weapon to fire.

"Twouldn't, or you won't live to regret it." She
glances backward, to see Eric standing behind her, a .45 in each
hand. "Now, I, for one, am getting sick of this bullshit
routine. Every day, I have to scare you punks off under the
threat of superior arms, and I'm getting tired of it. I offer
Hegira: you can leave, find another corner about five miles from
here to gangbang on, or next time, I won't stop with scaring you.
Got it? Leave now, and I'll do nothing to you."

"As soon as I turn, you'll shoot me!" one of the
punkers says.

"That's the beauty of Hegira, though you hardly rank the
honor. You can leave now, without further loss. That simple. NOW
GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!" they run dead out in the usual
direction. Eric stops by the unconcious punk, checks him, and
continues walking. "Now, Serena, would you mind explaining
to me why you didn't take them yourself?"

"I-I hesitated, sir. I'm sorry."

"No apologies required, but I'd recommend checking your
fear when facing a group. That's what the Combat Psychology is
for. By the Way, nice handywork on that one. He didn't know what
hit him."

"I-I-I Killed him?" Serena stammers, shocked that
she did so much in one shot.

"I'm afraid so. Don't fret about it, or you'll feel
miserable all day, which'll spoil the suprise I have planned."

"But-but"

"Occupational hazard, Serena. It never feels right to
take life, but it is necessary at times." Dan says from the
cornerpost of the fence they were sitting near.

"I guess you are right. Beryll's influence seems to be
affecting more and more nowadays."

"And I guess you'd better hide that scouter before some
of the approaching kids see it." Eric says, looking down the
fenceline at an approaching mob from the direction they came.
Serena is quick to wrap it up and place it in her bag.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Serena?"

"Why haven't you eliminated Beryll before now?"

"I haven't found ample justification to do it...untill
now."

"Do what?" A voice says on the other side of the
schoolyard fence.

"They let you out already, fatass?" Tiffany says.

"I'm pressing charges."

"Go ahead, moron. Just, do it on your own time, not the
school's time. I'll see to it that you get an ample recompense
for any pretended slights against you." He looks at the mob
that is his crew. "Let's go. School will be starting in a
minute."

They begin walking, but Eric stops whence Al shouts something,
almost inaudible to Serena. "I know about your 'abilities'.
I have friends that hate people like you!" Eric stops dead
in his tracks.

"You have been listening to my sister-in-law too damn
much. You don't even know the extent of my so-called abilities,
moron, and you are trying to interfere in a league 100 above what
you are in. See your way out of my affairs, or you will sink with
them, just as fast as them. Quinneg?" He keeps on walking,
oblivious to whatever Al retorts with.

Serena steps into cooking class, to find Eric, Dan, Emily,
Tiffany, and Lita already in there. She grabs a seat with them.

"The suprise is this: it's on. Tonight. I've recieved the
final data, and the prisoners are being slipped a note mentioning
their rescue. Plus, Mal will remove the guards for some reason,
when we slip in."

"Excellent." the crowds start mobbing in, ready for
class like a herd of zombies (This also was beginning to show in
the MultiMages; classes were getting to be either too hard or
boring for them; barrack rumor pointed to FOH influence in the
staff). Cooking class turned out to be more paperwork, and then a
short bell ensued.

Gym class was a hype before the nauseatingly boring classes
after. The teams were unfairly split between "Eric's
marauders" and the rest of the class, stacking it 6-1 in the
opposition's favor. The gym teacher was stunned silent whence
Eric's team emerged from three games unscathed, and also silenced
when he anticipated Tiffany and Amy to be complete flops; they
were Eric's "aces" of the match.

In English, Eric was held over after the period for some
reason unknown to all but Raye: He handed off one of the dual-pack
45s to Miss Horuna, for $550. Local law permitted concealed
weapons, it was discouraged by the high price of annual licenses,
which Eric financed for her out of goodwill, knowing how bad the
streets were getting.

At lunch, the CIA members grouped together in their typical
form around a small cluster of trees near the courtyard walls of
Crossroads, to discuss "Future ops", which none could
understand completely. When he noticed he was being spied upon,
he switcherd to a common dialet they all knew fairly well,
Russian, to prevent deciphering by Al. In response, Al picks up a
rock and slings it at Eric, hitting him in the middle of the back.

"You are beginning to piss me off, Al." he says,
breaking the middle of a sentence in Russian to respond to
getting hit.

"No way! He gave up on this dimension long ago, after the
moon was wrecked. He'd hate it to see it as it is now."

"But, look at the facts: We know he used to put on large
fireworks displays using battlemechs, and the display we saw
included Star League patterning. Besides, it's rumored that
someone lives in that mansion back there, and he'd have enough
reasons to keep it enigma."

"I doubt it." Artemis says cynically.

"Only one way to find out." Luna begins down the
road marked "do not enter" on an old, weather-beaten
sign.

"Do not fire. They may help with our mouse problems in
the 'back 40'."

"Aff. Awaiting orders...still."

Oblivous to the guard Elemental, Luna and Atremis continue
walking. About three miles in, the cats enter Gerard's crosshairs.

"Central, I just picked up Charles's contacts, looks like
two housecats-Wait a sec! Central, those contacts are the Lunar
Regents!"

"Well, let them be, they'll soon find out how big a
mistake it was to come here."

"You don't get it, do you? Thos two are ROYALTY,
surpassed only by the Planetary Princesses and the Emperor
himself. They are not to be harmed, quiaff?"

"Aff, sir. All units, hold fire."

***********************************************************

They continue walking, making sure of their destination not
being a trap. About seven miles in, they see a light at the end
of the forest-a clearing.

Gerard was having a helluva time playing MechCommander Gold (It
just didn't seem the same when you attend a war college for that
sort of thing, but it was still fun to slag EMS for no good
reason), when his computer announced a malfunction in the
Chameleon-2 Panneling that adorned the outside of his MadCat.

"Damit! Central, this is PathGuard Beta, I'm coming in
for repairs, those techies failed to fix the main processor for
the Chameleon panels again."

"Aff. Replacement en route." Gerard fires up the
gyros, spins around toward the mansion, and kicks it into high
gear.

"Luna, do you feel that?"

"Not only that, I can hear it! Something BIG is coming
our way!" They both look down the path at the approaching
battlemech, and watch it scream by. "Artemis! This IS a
MultiMage base! That was Gerard's MadCat!"

"How could you tell?"

"Grey paint, Crescent Moons on the missile packs, and a
flag that says 'if you can read this, you're in AC/20 range'.
That's gotta be him!"

"You're right! Look at that!" He points his paw down
the path, where several Prototypes were burning hard for the end
of the path. They whizz by, bowling the cats over in the eddies
that the spoilers create. Luna and Artemis begin running for the
gates ahead, oblivous to what awaits them, but knowing that the
base is friendly to talking cars, if any of them remember them.

They approach the gate from inside the forest very cautiously.
One of the guard 'mechs (Which they didn't recognize) takes a
step back with is right leg, and angles his torso down at them.
"Lunar Regents Artemis and Luna?" he says through the
loudspeaker.

"Yes, we are," Artemis says, stepping out of the
forest into the view of 2 Large Battlemechs and 2 points of
Elemntals (several wearing the colors of the Lunar Guard).

"The Emperor isn't here now, but the Base Commander is in
the MechBay." He shifts the foot of his battlemech onto a
switchplate, which drops the gate into the ground (with the
Cameron Star on it, signifying a Star League base). The regents
step out onto the path, and the Elementals step out of the way,
and raise their arms in salute as they pass between them into the
base. Once in past the Star league Era medium walls, they saw
what was so "taboo" to the locals: a full-featured
battlemech facility, complete with Starport and training
facilities. They continue inward, and are breezed by by a really
fast unit...which stops dead with a screech akin to a car. He
spins around the mech, and looks down at them.

"WHAT THE FUCK? I thought Beryll got you too!" he
shouts estatically over the speaker.

"Stan?" Luna shouts up at the 'mech, another
configuration she didn't recognize.

"Hell yeah! The boss just found me a few years ago, and
now I'm back doing what I love to do. Hey, you need a ride in? I
need to get my legs fixed. Can you still climb a battlemech?"
They jump upward in several hops onto a small ledge next to the
window. He opens the cockpit, and pulls them in uncerimoniously.
They drop to the plush floor of a small cockpit. Stan sits back
down in the seat. "Brace yourselves, this is a 35-tonner
with a 350 XL in it." They hook their claws into the "factory
standard" carpeting, and he jambs the throttle forward,
jolting everyone. After piloting it between several assault 'mechs
(much to the dismay of the other pilots, according to the radio
chatter), he enters a very large structure and stops it again on
a dime, leaving gouges in the concrete. Slowly he pilots it up to
the first floor balcony, getting it extremely close to the
platform. He shuts down and jerks the window open.

Luna and Atremis step out into a several-storied structure, 2
levels of battlemechs and vehicular units. Several they recognize
offhand: Alacorn mk. 8 Tanks, Annihalator battlemechs, Jagermech
Fire-support units, even a MadCat in hopps. They take the stairs
to the ground floor, and begin touring the areas. Several more
units they can see also from the Silver Millenium are included.
The one that gets them, however, is the one near shouting: Gerard
screaming at a technitian.

"I don't give a flying rat's ass about the repair charge,
you failed to fix it the first time! Just get me a smaller power
source for the Chameleon-2 unit, and I'll get the leg actuators."

"If you shrink the output, it'll give you an overcharge,
sir."

"Excellent! add the extra power to the ERPPC. NOW FIX IT!!!"
They catch sight of his MadCat, as well as several similarly
painted battlemechs in adjacent stalls: a Mauler, Champion, and
two that they didn't recognize (one looked like a Hunchback, but
it had an extra barrel on it and bigger arms). Gerard was in the
middle stall, with his hand up the Leg of the battlemech,
fiddling with the internals of the leg.

"I thought I recognized your mech beating down the path
here."

He jolts upward, hitting his head on the upper arm of the
battlemech. He skids down the smooth leg surface onto the ground.
"What brings you two to Delta Base?"

"We were investigating the fireworks out here. Looks like
we found out who caused it."

"Well, the boss'll be in in a few. He'll be the better to
explain what's going down here, and MAYBE he'd trust you with his
final plans that he has been keeping secret."

"Here. Get up into the cockpit of the Hunchback 2-C and I'll
show you." Gerard kicks in a toe plate on the side of the 'mech
that looks like a Hunchback, and climbs up via the leg to the arm
to one of the large Autocannons and into the cockpit, which is a
little roomier than the 35 tonner that they just got out of.
Immediately they recognize the cockpit setup of the (star League)
Hunchback, with the personal modifications like a command system
and a rearview mirror with a large Crescent Moon pendant hanging
on it (the mirror serves no purpose).

"Computer, access internal Server, ISDN connection to
Mainframe. Display history from Silver Millenium End to present
on upper screen set." The cats strain to see the upper
screens.

The Computer begins it's speech.

"in the year SL 995, Queen Beryll initated an inside
strike and destroyed all remnants of the Silver Millenium while
the Emperor was away, and disbanded the Star League. During that
disbanding, General Aleksander Kerensky led the remnants of the
SLDF into Exile, citing that "the feuding factions of what
remained of the Star League were utterly unworthy of the throne,
and would not stand by and watch it be usurped by the childish
houses". A whopping 80% of the Star League jumped out of the
sight of the Inner Sphere through the Draconis Combine, only to
isolate themselves and evolve into multiple techno-barbarian
Clans. The houses have had dealings with them, but not so as much
as the MultiMages have, who remained in constant contact with
them.

What of the MultiMage armies that did not exile themselves in
grief with the SLDF were reassigned or retired. The Lunar Guard,
what remained of it, accepted mutual defense positions on Mars,
Venus, Terra, Mercury, Pluto, and Saturn. To date, only 2595 of
the 6000 Lunar Guardians are still active; the rest either were
killed or retired. They now bear the memories of the past with a
special insignia: Ghost Bear grey paint, a Crescent moon on one
or more locations on the battlemech, and a large hatred of the
Negaverse.

Of Terra, it was hit just as badly as Luna. The popolus of
Terra, unlike the citizens of Luna, got a large grude against the
MultiMages, and literrally "deevolved" themselves
overnight, back to a past that was hopelessly inferior to the
technitial and political achievements that were part of the
Silver Millenium. They now exist with no knoweldge of their true
pasts, power capabilities, or events in the rest of the universe.

15 years ago, the Emperor instituted a series of operations,
listed as Beginnings, Eisenfaust, Ragnarok and Reclamation. The
final goal is unknown of these plans; the details of Ragnarok and
Reclamation are still shrouded at the command level, currently we
are in the middle of operation Eisenfaust, or the gathering of
resources for Ragnarok. Currently, 850 Galaxies of warriors are
on standby, as well as 266 regiments active in this dimension. On
Terra, 15 bases, each hosting anywhere from 1 Batallion to 3
Galaxies, exist. They will play a crucial role for upcoming
operations.

End History."

"Well. I do say. So much has happened." Artemis says,
and his neck creaks as he looks downward at Gerard.

"Indeed. You are in base Delta, which plays host to 3
Galaxies: The Valley Girls, Milenko's Juggelows, and The Emperor's
Elites. We also have earned a reputation that was unexpected and
desirable: this forest is almost NEVER entered by the locals."

The radio cracles. "Gerard, come in."

"Go ahead, Central." he speaks into a Microphone.

"The boss has arrived. Operation StarStrike will commence
in +5 minutes."

"10-4. Send the boss in, I have two someone's he'd like
to speak to." Gerard steps out the back hatch of the
Hunchback, and takes a ladder down to the base floor. The cats
take a winding staircase down at the end of the platform. Gerard
and someone meet about halfway in the floor, next to a stormdrain.

"New GF?" the warrior says as they near the pair.

"Neg, sir. Someone from Way back there." Gerard's
eyes betrayed a lot of grief from memories. He jerks his thumb in
Luna's direction. The warrior, unrecognizable from sun glare
behind him, looks high in their direction, and then turns back to
Gerard.

"Nice joke, Comrade." They thought they recognized
the voice.

"Look below 36 inches, sir. No Bullshit."

He looks in their direction, and down at them. He kneels on
one knee and looks them dead on. "Took you this long to find
the biggest secret that everyone knows about?" They
immediately recognize him as he alters position out of the sun.

"Eric! We though you gave up on us long ago!" Luna
all but screeches at him.

"I did-sorry-untill Chaos was destroyed and the Gods
power was broken. Then I knew that the Royal court was not
eliminated, and that at least two of the Imperiums still existed
here. Now, I'm back, and I'm here to set this scenario right.
What brings you here?"

"Uhh, we were investigating the fireworks, and we found
all this, sir." Artemis says, trying to sound professional,
though he was extremely happy to see the Emperor.

"I haven't changed THAT much in a thousand years, Artemis."

"What is Operation StarStrike? The Radio just announced
it was getting ready to happen."

"Jailbreak in Beryll's vaults. Attempt to rescue the Star
Lights and a prisoner Baron of mine."

"WHAT??? The Scouts...Alive?" they chant.

"You didn't know? They are all outside." They exit
via the bay doors, and almost run into the Scouts, in battle
uniform and waiting for something.

"What's the word, sir?" Venus (Mina) asks.

"Solo. There isn't enough room in the area for more than
one warrior."

"Drat!" Jupiter shouts.

"Sorry, Lita. I will, however, require the services of
the Silence Glaive, if you don't mind," and he looks at
Saturn. She draws it from a holder on her back and presents it to
him. "Wish me luck. I'll be back ASAP, hopefully sooner."
He disappears in a *gate* spell.

****************************************************

Sailor Star Healer was having a thoroughly boring day (as if
she'd not had plenty of those as of late). Today was her turn for
the bed, and she was laying on her side, staring at the card
table the guards used frequently, when she saw the most peculiar
thing possible: a "jump gate" in the middle of the room.
Steps through is...Eric.

"Hey, look who just stepped in." she says to the
others, not caring about stealth.

{would you mind not speaking, or do you like that view better
than Terra?} he sends telepathically, and steps up to the door.
The polearm he draws out of the holder on his back shocks them:
why would Saturn just give it to him? He thrusts it forward into
the lock, and pulls their door open. A second jail he busts into
is that of the MultiMage soldier that Star Fighter loved to
exchange unpleasentries with. He busts the lock in a similar way,
and the soldier rushes out.

"Now, why are you rescuing us?"

{I believe I just said Quiet, no? There are random sentries in
this area. FUCK!} He spins around, and throws the Glaive like a
javelin through a wall. He draws it back through, smearing blood
and drywall powder on the blade, and a body falls into partial
view of the occupants. "I wasn't counting on this, but..."
He spins the Glaive back into place, and begins a spell. The
spell conjures up another gate, just as someone steps in. They
shout something, and rush at the Scouts and Eric, where the
latter draws a .45 and fires right through the monster's neck,
leaving a big blood splatter on the opposite wall. "GET IN!"
He roars at the Lights conventionally, and he fires again through
the thin wall and into another monster. He swaps fire with the
Negamonsters using the .45 and an arm-mounted cannon. During the
fight, he aims it at the deck and fires, blowing them in to the
portal from just staring at the oncoming masses of enemies.

**************************************************

The scouts were waiting for Eric to come back in the front
lawns of the mansion, hopefully with their friends. A portal
opens, and a pause ensues. Then the Stars fall through in a pile
on the ground, bruised, but not severely injured. Then the
attention focuses back on the portal, and Eric jumps backward out
of it 30 seconds later, firing a Light AC/2 through it at someone
in the room beyond. It seals fast.

"Too damn close." he says, hunched over and gasping.
The Tek armor he was wearing disappears again.

By now, the Lights were up, and looking pissed. What she
thought was a vulnerable shot at hitting him, was a mistake by
Fighter. She punched him in the shoulder, only for her fist to
meet the flat of his hand. He leans up from his doubled over
position, looking her in the eyes.

"What are you going to do now? Beat us up some more?"
She tries a gut-punch, only to strike the back of his mailed fist.

"If I sought to injure you, i'd've run you through with
the Glaive while you were in the cell, not loosed you. And that
shot was into the ground to get you into the portal. I'm going to
release my grip now; don't continue the melee." He does, and
she staggers. He hits the button on his scouter. "tek armor,
level zero." the flak vests and suit he was wearing
disappears, revealing jeans and a mechwarrior's cooling vest.

"Think we are gonna trust you?" Maker queries.

"Cut the crap, quinneg? We're on the same side. They,"
and he jerks his thumb over hsi shoulder at the cluster of the
Sailor Scouts, "have already figured out that Beryll is the
local common antagonist, not me."

"I don't buy it." Healer says, eyeing first Eric,
and then the Scouts.

"I don't expect you to BUY it, I expect you to figure it
out for yourselves. Saturn," and he looks back at her.

"Sir?" she says, almost frightened.

He spins the glaive from a backholster, and hands it to her.
"I'm not conducting any lessons in the 'great art' of
fighting today, mainly to let your guardians think this through.
Dis-"

"*Star Serious Beam*!" Fighter fires at him, hoping
that being turned, he couldn't react. When the dust settles from
the shot, Eric was just standing there, utterly unscathed. He
disappears, and there is a lot of looking around on all parts,
only to find him 15' in the air, sword drawn and falling directly
at Fighter. They cover their eyes, expecting the worst, and their
minds almost guess the result of him landing with an
uncharasteristic thud. All they hear is a light chuckle, and Eric
resheathing his sword. They open their eyes, slowly at first,
fighter included, and she drops to her knees, scared and almost
sobbing.

"Had I have been one of Beryll's minions, I wouldn't have
stopped. It's your choice, but think about it: I've had at least
four decent opprotunities to eliminate you, and I haven't done so.
Second, I was shooting at them, not you. Third, if I was evil,
they'd be-"

Maker, who had been real quiet for some time, had a very
puzzled look on her face. "Fighter, I think he's right. He
could have killed us while we were in that cell, He could have
cut you in half, and he can easily blast us at any time he wanted
to."

"Give me a break!"

"Not untill you stop and take an objective look at this.
We are outnumbered 6000-3 and outclassed 600,000-1, and he isn't
pressing the matter. Get it?"

"Again, I never asked you to LIKE it, I merely asked you
to-" His scouter lights up, and he presses the button.
"Scouts, Stars, you are dismissed for the day. I have to
quell an attack by my sister-in-law." He disappears.

"Well, now what do we do?" Luna asks of Pluto.

"I guess go home. He's out beating on someone." They
exited via the forest road, and split, not knowing that the next
time they'd see each other was at gunpoint.